Xie Lin always felt that the woman sitting in front of him to his left was somewhat familiar, like Su Rong, but Su Rong usually dressed simply yet elegantly. The woman’s dress style heavily contrasted the vibrant look she had every time he saw her in Jiangning County. Additionally, the person sitting at her table was the man of letters from Chuanxi, Lu Fengyan. He had recognized him from that day when they were in a private room in the Juxian Building, watching the debate downstairs with Zhou Gu and Su Xingze. Xie Lin wondered, who was this woman? He thought Zhou Gu should have a look, this woman looked so much like his fiancée.
Because of this familiar sight, his gaze always slid over to take a look at her. After a few times, the person sitting next to him noticed and nudged Xie’s shoulder, whispering, "Hey, Xie Lin, you aren’t falling for that girl, are you? Why are you always looking at her?"
Xie Lin immediately darkened his face, "No."
"I’ve noticed you looking at her quite a few times." The man didn’t believe him, "Otherwise why are you always looking at her?"
Xie Lin glares, lowering his voice, "That woman looks quite similar to someone I know."
"Oh, I see." The man took a closer look at Su Rong. He couldn’t see anything because of the screen blocking her face, but the way she handled chopsticks and tea was very elegant, and her figure was slender and attractive. He murmured, "This lady must be very beautiful; that’s why she is wearing the screen."
Xie Lin used his big hand to cover his eyes, turned his head around, and darkly warned, "Eat your meal, stop looking, or people will think we are rogues."
The man was unjust, the person who kept looking like a rogue was him, wasn’t it?
Su Rong was very calm, confident that Xie Lin wouldn’t recognize her, and leisurely ate her meal.
But while Xie Lin was still pondering, a man from a table over stood up. With a self-proclaimed grace, he walked up to Su Rong, made a bow with his hands and asked, "My name is Lin Chun from Jibei, may I ask the lady’s name and if you are betrothed?"
Su Rong paused in her actions.
Fen Ling chuckled. She turned her head to spit out a mouthful of tea onto the ground. As she turned back to look at the man standing in front of Su Rong, she had a weird look in her eyes. Suddenly feeling playful, she wiped the tea stains off her mouth and started, "Sir, are you Lin Chun, the man second only to Jibei’s number one scholar Zhao Li’an? My sister is engaged, but she will soon call it off. Are you interested in queuing up?"
Lin Chun was taken aback, she was betrothed, but she was going to call off the engagement? And he should queue up? He was at a loss for words, stuttering, "This, this, you, you are joking, right?"
"I’m not joking. It’s true." Fen Ling was serious, "Do you want to queue up, Brother Lin?"
Lin Chun was at a loss for words.
Fearing that Xie Lin would recognize her voice, Su Rong naturally couldn’t speak. She reached out and pinched Fen Ling’s arm, indicating to him to stop fooling around and get rid of him quickly.
Fen Ling said cheerfully, "Brother Lin, go back! You don’t know any details about my sister like her name, where she lives, her personality, her age, and you ask whether she is engaged or not, aren’t you the one joking?"
Lin Chun’s face turned red, hesitated, "I was indeed rude. But, but... when I saw this lady, I really felt something..."
Fen Ling stood up, put his arm around Lin Chun’s shoulder, interrupted him, and said softly in his ear, "Brother Lin, you seem to be a straightforward person. I will be honest with you. You were wrong just now, my sister is not good looking at all. She has a face full of freckles and that’s why she’s wearing the screen. About the engagement, there is indeed a matter of her calling off the engagement, all because her fiancé thinks she’s too ugly, so he wants to break off the engagement. Ah, don’t be so rash in the future. Luckily, I’m a good person, otherwise, I would definitely force my sister to marry you..."
As he spoke, he dragged and led Lin Chun back to his original place lightly, then patted his shoulder with a serious face and said, "I wish you success in your exams, Brother Lin. We’ll meet again."
Lin Chun was in a daze, unable to recover from his shock for a while.
After Fen Ling returned to her seat, she felt they should not stay any longer. Their table had attracted the attention of several other tables due to the commotion. She had only satisfied nine-tenths of her hunger, so she reluctantly said, "Sister, shall we go?"
Su Rong nodded.
Fen Ling spoke for her, turning to the somewhat confused Zhao Shu and Lu Fengyan, "Brothers, we’ve finished eating. You can eat slowly. My sister and I will be leaving first. We’ll meet you again someday."
Zhao Shu felt that he and Fen Ling were very similar. He got up quickly and asked, "May I ask where you live? Lu and I would like to visit you after the scientific examination."
Naturally, Fen Ling could not say that she and her sister were staying in the Eastern Palace. It would shock someone if she said it, so she just laughed and said, "Capital City is not so big. We are bound to run into each other again. It’s not convenient for me to disclose where my sister and I currently stay. However, you two can leave your addresses, and we will visit someday."
"Alright." Zhao Shu quickly recited his address, "Brother Feng, remember your words."
"Of course, my word is my bond." Feng Ling bowed and bid farewell.
Lu Fengyan also bowed, "Farewell, Brother Feng, and Miss Feng."
Fen Ling waved, pulled out a piece of silver, went to the counter to pay the bill, and strolled out of Zhuangyuan Building with Su Rong.
Xie Lin had observed all this. ’So, her surname is Feng... This couldn’t be Su Rong, could it? But she really resembles Su Rong a lot.’
Unable to hold back, he asked the two men in front of him, "May I ask what the names of those siblings are? Where are they from?"
Fen Ling’s accent was similar to that of Capital City’s people, but there wasn’t a single resident with the last name Fen in all of Capital City; one may not even be able to find one in the local government office’s registration department.
Zhao Shu had been wanting to acquaint himself with Young Master Xie of the Rui’an King Residence, but he didn’t have the opportunity to until now. Upon hearing him speak, he immediately stood up and greeted Xie Lin, "I’m Zhao Shu from Chuanxi, and the scholar next to me is Brother Lu Fengyan. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Young Master Xie."
Xie Lin also stood up, "Two of Chuanxi’s talents, I have long heard of your reputation. It’s a pleasure to meet you."
He proceeded to introduce the gentlemen with him; they were all from wealthy families. With the autumn examinations around the corner, everyone was under pressure to prepare, so they had all arranged to go out and relax a bit together.
Zhao Shu and Lu Fengyan swiftly greeted each of them.
After their introductions, Zhao Shu responded to Xie Lin, "The brother who just left, his surname is Fen, and his name is Fen Ling. His sister was with him, we only recently got to know each other while waiting for seats, they’re from Jiangzhou."
Xie Lin was surprised, "From Jiangzhou?"
"Yes, they said they’re from Jiangzhou, they’ve once met the talented Su Xingze from Jiangzhou."
Xie Lin was deep in thought. It turned out they were not from Chuanxi but Jiangzhou, and they had met Su Xingze as well? Perhaps she wasn’t Su Rong after all?
He was unsure at this time, but he felt there was no harm in chasing after them to ask. Apologizing would suffice if he’d mistaken her for someone else.
So, he swiftly said, "I have to step out for a bit, you guys carry on."
Having said this, he ran out like a gust of wind.
"Hey, Xie Lin, where are you going?" Someone called out to him.
Xie Lin didn’t answer and rushed out of Zhuangyuan Building without looking back.
Everyone looked at each other perplexed.
Zhao Shu was puzzled and wondered if Young Master Xie had some kind of urgent matter to attend to.
At this moment, the person who had been sitting next to Xie Lin spoke, "He just mentioned a resemblance, could he really know her?"
Upon hearing this, everyone enquired about who he might know. The person then shared Xie Lin’s mention about the young lady Fen resembling a woman he knew.
Curiosity filled the room.
Zhao Shu and Lu Fengyan exchanged glances. They were already full and felt it was time to leave, but seeing another opportunity to build connections with the children of nobles, Zhao Shu didn’t want to pass it up, so he pulled Lu Fengyan back to their seats and began to converse with the new acquaintances.
Elsewhere, after Xie Lin had left Zhuangyuan Building, he realized he had lost sight of the brother-sister duo. He grabbed a bellboy and asked, "Where did that man and woman go?"
The bellboy pointed in a direction, "They went that way."
Xie Lin immediately gave chase in the direction the bellboy pointed out.
After turning a corner and still not seeing the duo, Xie Lin furrowed his brows. He thought to himself, even if they had ridden a carriage or horse, they shouldn’t have been able to get far so quickly. He was able to give chase promptly after they left, so he should at least have been able to see them. Had they purposely hidden from him because she really is Su Rong?
But why would she hide from him?
Feeling puzzled, Xie Lin stood his ground and thought. He then realized he was just looking for trouble. What did it matter to him even if she were Su Rong? He wasn’t Zhou Gu, nor was he her biological elder brother, Su Xingze.
He turned back and decided to quit the chase.
Not long after Xie Lin left, two figures emerged from behind a high wall across the way. It was Su Rong and Fen Ling. They looked at each other, patted the dust off themselves, and fell into somewhat awkward silence.
After a while, Fen Ling whispered, "Master, Young Master Xie seems to have recognized you, what should we do?"
"He might not be certain it’s me. But it doesn’t matter. Xie Lin is a rather prudent man. When I was recuperating in Xie Residence in Jiangning County, although it was kept secret, I suspect he might have known something but chose to feign ignorance." Su Rong brushed off her sleeves, "Let’s go, we’ll buy some pastries from Chengji House and then head home."
Fen Ling nodded, felt reassured, and dropped the matter at that.
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